"The Alien is My Brother"

The Osservatore Romano headline is typically humane.  We all know that, pace Tom Tancredo, the Vatican encourages love and support for aliens, whether legal or illegal.

In this case, however, they are talking about space aliens.  Klingons, Romulans, and like that.

The Vatican's chief astronomer, Fr. Gabriel Funes, writes that God may well have created intelligent life on other planets.  It's a bit of showmanship, meant to attract media attention (you're welcome), because the Vatican is launching a religion-and-science initiative, including a 2009 conference to mark the bicentennial of Darwin's birth.  Apparently they've gotten over the whole Galileo thing.

Frankly, we're just impressed that they have a Chief Astronomer.  The Lutheran chief astronomer was Tycho Brahe.  He's been dead for 406 years.